Colombian cannabis producer Pideka will begin operations this month after completing the construction of its first $3 million greenhouse.
By the end of 2019 it plans to have five greenhouses up and running, creating 100 jobs in the nascent marijuana industry. That will mark the culmination of a $15 million investment that seeks to establish Pideka as one of the leading lights in the Colombian cannabis trade.
Denis Contri, Pilar Sanchez and Camilo Cruz set up the firm five years ago and in 2014 it opened Colombia’s first medicinal cannabis dispensary. It worked with 1,000 patients and that allowed it to conduct extensive research on disease-based treatments and gain expertise in the botanical and agronomic aspects of the treatments.
The next step was to become a producer, and it will achieve that goal this year. The greenhouses are all 1,200 square meters and they allow the crop to be harvested in light- and humidity-controlled conditions.
The first greenhouse is now springing to life and it features 2,000 flowering plants, 2,000 vegetative plants, 64 mother plants and 2,000 clones, under a continuous harvest methodology.
In the first year of operations, 2019, Pideka expects to produce 7,680 kilos of dried cannabis flower, yielding 768 litres of extracts. The first CBD oil products will appear in May 2019. It plans to scale up its operations going forwars and it is seeking investors.
“Our goal is to exceed current international standards by providing high quality medicinal cannabis and derivatives to foreign and domestic companies with licenses to manufacture or market these products,” said Contri.
He has devoted his life to investigating cannabis genetics and cultivation techniques to treat a range of diseases. He now serves as master grower and chief science officer, while Sanchez is technical coordinator and Cruz is the lab manager.
Pideka joins the likes of Med Colombia, Cannabis Medical Group, Medcann Colombia, Colombian Organics, Canmecol, and Khiron Colombia as a potential leading player in what promises to be an exciting Colombian cannabis market teeming with opportunities. Leading Canadian producer Aphria is teaming up with the Federación Médica Colombiana to educate medical professionals across Colombia about the benefits of treating patients with cannabis, and firms like Pideka hope to be at the forefront of this trend.
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